Well, Metallica Pro was my first NIB purchase, and I couldn't have been more excited!!

That feeling has since changed. Considerably...

First off: It's an awesome title, incredible artwork, great flow, fun fun FUN!

Here's the thing... It ends there.

Zero communication regarding updates, which are artfully avoided for some reason (we have two factory released modes that don't even exist, by play or by acknowledgement).

I had a faulty DMD which I sent back and got a credit card charge for $100 for shipping between suppliers/Stern.

There are multiple design faults (which have mostly been acknowledged/rectified by Stern, but not all).

And we're now at a point where the game is an after-thought by the company. There will be no second, third, fourth run etc. as there have been with other successful titles that I can see.

I am a home buyer, so I will admit that things don't revolve around me, but I expected more.

Feeling: Bitter.

There was no indication that the game was far from finished when I purchased it. Saying I should be "willing" to wait months for updates is no better a defense as far as supporting them is concerned.

Of course I knew it wasn't done, code-wise, but they should have been a HELL of a lot closer than this.

If I buy a car that has "twin turbo" plastered on it, I'm going to assume that it does, in fact, have twin turbo.

If I buy a pinball machine that has "END OF THE LINE", and "CRANK IT UP", AND references to those modes plastered on the playing area, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect those highlights to see the light of day before the next title release. (or the one after that)

Do you?

I do actually understand what you're saying, and agree to a certain extent. If you look back through the code-crying threads you will see that my involvement has been minimal. I've always wanted to give this title the benefit of the doubt, but of course it's just the same nonsense.

I guess getting a bill for $100 today from my distributor for a faulty DMD that was under "warranty" was enough to tip me over to the other side of the fence...

Very expensive lesson learned.

I purchased the game through Nitro Amusements in Vancouver. I called them with the problem and, because I live about 4 hours away from Vancouver, they told me to call Starburst Cineplex directly (the main Canadian distributor).

When I phoned Starburst I had to give them all of the details I would expect to have to provide, but I should have clued in when they asked for my credit card number. Naively though, I just thought it was part of the process. After about a month I received my replacement dmd and had to ship the faulty one back to Starburst (at my cost). Then yesterday I receive a receipt for $70+ for shipping from starburst to me AND shipping twice between starburst and stern.

Unhappy to say the least...

I felt "that I can see" would have made it clear that it was only my opinion, but I guess not.

In my opinion, I don't see multiple runs of a broken title.

I'd like to report that I received a private message from Tommy (president of Nitro Amusements) saying that he saw this thread and was very disappointed in Starburst for charging me the shipping costs of the warranty replacement.

Furthermore, he has offered to reimburse me for the $100 it cost me in total shipping. Pretty stand up move if you ask me. I had long since resigned myself to the fact that I was simply out $100, so the gesture means a lot to me.

For what it's worth, all of the dealings I've had directly with Nitro have been very positive and this experience (especially now) will not dissuade me from dealing with them again in the future. Thanks Tommy!

Cheers,
Greg

Hi Greg.

I've owned the Metallica Pro since June 15th, 2013. My call into Starburst was on September 7th and was noted on the account by Guylaine that this was within the 3 months. Also, when I spoke with the service guy at Starburst he told me that DMD's were actually covered for a longer period than the 3 months standard factory warranty, but regardless I was definitely covered under the manufacturer's warranty.

Cheers,
Greg